Not applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for treatment of specimens, and more particularly, to an apparatus for treatment of specimens with numerous treatment containers representing treatment stations. The treatment containers are set up to receive treatment solutions for the specimens. Such apparatuses are particularly used for staining histological or cytological specimens or for embedding histological or cytological specimens in an embedding medium.
2. Discussion of Relevant Prior Art
Automatic staining machines with treatment baths arranged in a 2-dimensional grid array are known, for example, from Japanese Patent JP-63-208761, European Patent EP-BL 0 586 494, WO 93/23732 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,824. These apparatuses have a transport device by means of which the specimens to be treated are transported from one treatment station to the next treatment station according to a program, are deposited for the prescribed treatment time in the next treatment station, and are subsequently removed. The control of the course of the program takes place completely automatically, by means of built-in processors or by means of a PC with attached keyboard and display. The treatment programs can be input and stored. The desired treatment program is subsequently selected according to requirements, called up, and automatically executed. Parallel runs of different stored treatment programs are also possible, for the most part.
To prevent health hazards due to vapor products of the solvents used (principally ethanol and xylene), a part of the known apparatuses has a hood-like equipment cover from which the solvent vapors arising in the equipment are sucked out through filters. For the most part, additional bath covers for baths or groups of baths are offered, to be placed manually on the baths or groups of baths outside the operating times, in order to prevent undesired amounts of evaporation.
A general problem with such treatment apparatuses is the prevention of the transfer of liquids from bath to bath during the course of the individual dipping processes. This is important because contamination of the baths with liquids from other baths leads to a qualitative worsening of the staining results and thus also affects the reproducibility of the results of staining. To prevent such carry-over of liquid, it is known from European Patent EP-BL 0 586 494 to provide a dripping zone between the treatment containers. The transport of the specimen or specimens between successive baths takes place along this dripping zone. However, such dripping zone tends to encumber a compact arrangement of the baths and thus to obstruct the compactness of the whole treatment apparatus, since a free space to serve as a dripping zone is required between the individual baths.
The object of the present invention is to reduce the contamination of the baths by transfer of liquid in the course of the dipping processes from bath to bath, and simultaneously to ensure a compact arrangement of the treatment containers.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a treatment apparatus with reduced amount of evaporation of the treatment solutions.
The first object is achieved by an apparatus that includes a plurality of treatment containers representing treatment stations and a transport device that transports the specimen holders in the treatment stations and between the treatment stations, deposits the specimen holders in the treatment stations and takes the specimen holders out of the treatment stations. The transport device includes a unit that is movably arranged at the transport device and comprises a suction underlay. Additionally, a computer control, which controls the movement of the transport device and of the unit, is provided which computer control causes the unit to be brought under the specimen holders and the suction underlay to contact the specimen holders after the specimen holders are taken out of the treatment containers by the transport device.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the unit does not remain under the specimen holders during transport of the specimen holders to the next treatment station. Instead, the computer control causes the unit to be brought back to a transport position during transport of the specimen holders between one and another treatment station in which transport position the unit also is positioned during taking the specimen holders out of or depositing them in the treatment stations.
The second object of the invention is achieved by an apparatus that includes a plurality of treatment containers representing treatment stations and a transport device that transports specimen holders between the treatment stations, deposits the specimen holders in and takes the specimen holders out of the treatment stations. The apparatus further comprises at least one transport unit, which is designed to cover the treatment stations, and the transport device includes an engagement device that releasably engages with the transport unit.
Since the transport unit also is designed to cover the treatment stations a treatment station in which specimen holders are deposited is covered during treatment of the specimens, whereby the evaporation of the treatment solution is minimized.
The solvent residues are satisfactorily taken up by the suction underlay of the suction support by bringing the specimen holder into contact with the suction underlay. The specimen holders and the slides contained in them are held in contact with the suction support.
The unit with the suction underlay can in principle be positioned under the specimen holder either by a linear motion or by a pivoting motion. However, the provision of a pivoting motion for inserting the unit with the suction support is easier to construct.
In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, at least some of the treatment containers are provided with removable covers. The unit that can be positioned under the specimen holders during transport also has a device, on the side remote from the suction support, for removing the cover. Then the cover can be taken off the container concerned before a specimen holder is put in place, and can be set down on the container of the preceding treatment station or on the container from which another specimen holder next has to be taken out, after the specimen holder has been set down.
Furthermore, transport units, that are preferably also separable from the transport device, and on which the specimen holders are received, are constructed for covering the treatment containers. This ensures that the treatment containers are nearly always covered, and that only one transport container is open during the very short transfer time of the transport mechanism from one treatment container to the next. Since the transport containers are nearly always covered, evaporation is greatly reduced in comparison with equipment in which vapors emerging from uncovered containers are sucked out and the evaporation of the solvent is exacerbated by the suction. The consumption of solvent and likewise endangering health and the environment are thereby reduced.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the transport device has a vertical guide on which a slider is received, with a device to receive the specimen holder or the transport unit. A carrier for the unit that is to be brought under the specimen holder is also attached to the same vertical guide. The unit that is to be brought under the specimen holder is received on this carrier in such a manner that it can execute a combination of a linear vertical motion and a pivoting motion about a horizontal axis. The motion of the slide and of the unit that can be brought under the specimen holder are controllable independently of each other. Thus only a common horizontal guide is required for handling the specimens or specimen holders and handling the cover.
Magnets, preferably electromagnets, can be provided on the transport device for removing the cover and/or for releasably removing the specimen holder. When permanent magnets are used, an additional mechanism is also required for turning the magnetic force on and off, for example by turning the permanent magnets, or for example by applying a force that is greater than the magnetic force.
Like the automatic staining systems known from the documents mentioned previously, the apparatus according to the invention also has a computer control for automatically running stored and selected programs, by means of which the specimen holders are automatically transported by the transport device to the individual treatment stations that are provided according to the program; deposited in the treatment stations for the residence time according to the program; removed after the programmed residence time has elapsed; and transported to the next treatment station according to the program. Furthermore, the computer control effects lifting the associated cover by means of the transport device when a new treatment station is reached according to the program, and after the specimen holder has been set down in the new treatment station, the cover taken from the new treatment station is deposited on the previous treatment station according to the program. After a specimen holder is taken out of the treatment station, the computer control furthermore causes a unit to be automatically brought under the specimen holder. Subsequently, by a relative motion between the specimen holder and the unit that can be brought under the specimen holder, the specimen holder is deposited on the unit. The computer control can be set up for the simultaneous, parallel course of different and/or like treatment programs.